


When something goes wrong in your life, just yell ‘Plot Twist’ and move on

by abbeytre3



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Magic has a will and a way, hermione collecting contracts, ron with very specific interests
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28887558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbeytre3/pseuds/abbeytre3
Summary: Fulfill a certain set of magical conditions, shame on you. Do it twice, shame on me. Accidentally do it eight times? It's nice to meet you Hermione Granger. She the UK's strongest argument for why pureblood customs should be taught in Hogwarts.Ron Weasley is having one hell of a year. Through trying to survive Umbridge, being Harry Potter's best friend, and trying to keep Hermione out of activating yet another magical contract, he'll be lucky to pass the O.W.L.'s.
Relationships: hermione/magical contracts
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	When something goes wrong in your life, just yell ‘Plot Twist’ and move on

**Author's Note:**

> I adore Midsummer Murders by AnnettePoudre. And by consequence, I now headcannon a certain person as the head of the DMLE and Dolohov as not in Azkaban.  
> This is just meant to be a bit of fun, one Ronald Weasley getting increasingly more flabbergasted by the improbably accidents surrounding him.  
> A few clarifying things. Hermione is sixteen in this due to time turner use. Any engagements mentioned is more of the line of a contract than any relationships, there is not underage in this.

One look at Ronald Wealey and a majority of people walked away with the general conclusion that he was just like his brothers. Red hair, hand me down clothes, and a penchant for trouble. Which, while true, was not the sum of all things Ronald, nor all things Weasley. For the other general conception of the Weasley clan was the overwhelming majority of males and the sheer number of them. 

As such, when the first five proved to be all of the above, and in addition, completely baffled by women, so was Ronald, and so the case was closed on the youngest brother. 

However, it would serve one to remember that eldest children nearly out of school had little interest in the youngest, having already given full effort to the ones before, and that twins had no need for other friends. Instead of tagging along with the elders, being seen as a test subject rather than a playmate disavowed any notions of companionship rather early, Ronald turned to the younger family.

Namely Ginerva Weasley, the only sister and youngest of them all. She was as troublesome as the best, by virtue of being the girl and the youngest, had the full armoire of proper pureblood education at her disposal via mother. The Prewetts were ancient and knowledgeable and their children would be too, seen by the varied and deep interest of each child. 

Ginervra was never forced into the learning, but should she be interested in a topic, it would be available, as well as to Ronlad, who would much rather accompany his sister on her quest to break open the broom closet for a quick spin in the sky rather than dodge a teddy bear with far too many limbs again.

From an incident not entirely removed from a secret stash of Harry Potter adventure novels underneath a certain girl's bed, Ginevra simply decided that she wanted to learn about the rituals of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, specifically marriage rites and challenges. 

Molly Weasley nee Prewett was simply thrilled. Perhaps a bit more excited than one would guess this situation would warrant. But then again, looking at the devilishly charming William, fresh into curse breaking and daring adventures, and Quidditch star Charlie, perhaps it would behove the family to have a child who knew a thing or two about bonding ceremonies and their touchstones, before an incident could occur. 

Ronald was prepared to hate the lessons. Surely marriage contracts and the like could not be interesting, it was simply a discussion and an event, even the most extravagant weddings rarely lasted for more than a day. 

Much to his surprise, far after Ginevra had moved onto other topics, like the consequences of wand swiping and bat bogey hexes, Ronlad was still indulging in the complications of tying bonds. 

Ronald was a strategist at heart. Chess was good and exciting, with its set rules and a challenging opponent, but there were only so many ways to take a king. Marriage challenges, if known fully, were much in the way of a bloodless, in most cases, battle ready to happen. Pureblood customs at their heart were formed to the will of magic. As each family aged and the magic adopted one as their own, a sort of unique magics ran through each bloodline, forming different challenges and criteria for the oldest blood. Certain criteria that could be tripped and trap one in a magically binding contract without even possessing knowledge of the trigger. 

With nothing more than knowing that Ron Weasley came from a pureblood family, the summer before fifth year Hermione Granger asked him a question with surprising consequences. 

  
  


Ron commanded his pawn forward a square, squinting across the board at Remus’s twisted face, trying to divine if he had driven the older man into a corner far enough for him to make an impulse move. 

He mused while watching Remus juggle his options, “So you participated in a DMLE investigation a bit ago and want to know if there is going to be any consequences from their ‘ominous words’?”

Hermione figited, “Well yeah. I can't find any books talking about anything other than rituals with intent so I really don’t know what they were talking about, and aren't you mad that I cavorted with known peoples of interest who might be affiliated with a certain risen dark lord?!”

Ron watched his knight obliterate Remus’s rook, “Oh yeah, as soon as this game is done I'm going to be spitting mad that you put yourself into so much incredible danger and we weren't even there. But right now, emotions only get in the way of victory.”

Remus made a split second decision and had his queen take Ron’s knight, allowing his pawn to move unseen to the end of the board and take Remus’s king. 

Ron spun around, color already filling his cheeks and eyes alighting with Molly Weasley’s hellfire, “Now you did WHAT?!”

“They were investigating a murder in my neighborhood Ronald! Was I just supposed to sit quiet and not help?” Her hair crackled and sparked around her as she settled into the well worn groove of their arguments.

“Yes, it’s their job, not yours to find the murderer. Not to mention that they’re killers Hermione! You literally helped killers find another killer!”

Remus quietly started putting away the chess pieces by hand and Ron knew that the wizard was listening to them intently. 

“Ron-”

“You know, let's move this so that the whole house doesn’t have to hear us.” 

Hermione spun and stormed upstairs, Ron hot on her heels. She slammed the door to the boy’s bedroom shut and drew a small anti listening rune on the handle.

She spun to face Ron, So you believe me that something is up then?”

He nodded and dove for his bag under the messy bed, “Yeah of course. And don’t sweat not knowing this stuff, it's kept pretty close to the chest of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.” He pulled out something that he knew Hermione loved more than her own well-being, a rare and useful book, and handed it to her. “You can borrow this, but I’ll need it back, it's been a Weasley tome for at least eight generations. Self-updating though so don’t worry.”

She took  _ Rites and Rituals for the Moste Pureblood  _ and he could tell by her twitching fingers that she was resisting the urge to tear through it immediately. 

“Thank you Ron. This will help a lot!”

“You could always just ask me the question and I can tell you or point you to the section. In the interest of time and all. I don’t carry that around as a paperweight.” 

Hermione started to nibble on the edge of her thumb before coming to a decision. She sat beside Ron on the bed and began speaking, “So they said that they wouldn’t hurt me, and once I started telling them about their suspect, my neighbor, I felt this weird tension in Magic. And then this showed up.” She pushed up her sweater sleeve and showed him her wrist, where two barely noticeable bands wound their way around her wrist, a shade lighter than her skin. 

“Well a promise of protection is a first step for a lot of things. You’re going to have to give me more. Can I have a surname of one to begin with?”

She hesitated again and the alarm bells in Ron’s head started clanging noisily.  _ This is starting to feel like a big mess _ . 

“Well… Dolohov might have been there.” Came out of her very quietly.

He felt his heart drop to his feet. This shouldn’t have happened. It could have happened. But it shouldn’t have with a  _ war  _ going on. 

Bubbling out of him somewhat hysterically with a giggle, “Well congratulations on your engagement Hermione! You fulfilled the three step process to being an eligible Dolohov!”

She flushed deeply and she bit out, “This isn’t funny Ron! I’m only sixteen!”

“It’s Magic, she doesn’t care. And it's a contract not a relationship.” He groaned into his palms and listed out, “He must have challenged you in a duel. You accepted and survived. He made a promise of care. Done. End of discussion. You’re lucky you guys didn’t acknowledge the contract with intent or you’d be a lot worse off.” He looked out from his hands at her wrist in sight, “And from the similar shape of the bands, you fulfilled criteria for another family while you were at it. Are you just collecting them now?”


End file.
